The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"HELL YEAH!" Yuki roared, clenching his fist tightly as he saw his spike landed on the opponent's side perfectly. When everything finally sunk in, all of his teammates ran onto him with full excitement as they joined the celebration.

"What the hell is that, Kobayashi?!" Uehara asked in awe.

"Yeah, Kobayashi! I know that my spike is blocked by that blondie, but how could you cover it so easily?" Shou added, shaking his head in wonder.

"Well, I will not say that it is easy." After the emotion wore off, Yuki rubbed the back of his neck, trying to contain his excitement better. "I mean, Kawaki-sensei asked me to keep my eyes on him, and when I realized Haruo-kun figured out where the ball would go, I knew he would be able to stop the attack, so what I have to do is protect the ball if it was about to go down on our side. As for the rest… Well, I have been playing with Riku for a while, so this is just our regular attack."

Riku nodded in agreement, not thinking that Yuki had just done anything special. However, for those who were not familiar with Yuki's playing style, they all had their mouth gaped wide in awe. Just like Yuki's service game, no matter how much the glasses boy wanted to downplay it, that wouldn't hide the impressiveness behind the play.

Even if they didn't count how quickly Yuki recovered after digging up the ball to get ready for another attack, the fact that he could read the game so well to the point he knew where Riku would send the ball and that Haruo would know about it too told everyone a lot about his observational skill. Sometimes, hearing how Yuki broke down his thoughts after doing an amazing play like this made them all wonder what was inside his head.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Ojiro Senta couldn't help but frown, not liking how the last play ended. He was given the task of pressuring the pinch server, but if he couldn't get away from the Thunder's middle blocker, how could he do so?

Goro who saw Ojiro Senta's ashen face did his role as the captain to reassure the ace. "Don't worry, Jiro. You will have the chance again later."

The ace nodded, but not without turning his eyes from Yuki. The glasses boy was just a pinch server, there shouldn't be anything special about him. So, how could he somehow feel that something bad would happen if he kept targeting the boy?

'No, this should be an illusion. I don't need to worry about him.' Ojiro Senta shook his head quickly. 'Just wait, after this, I will be the one who breaks you!'

-0-

Amidst the celebration, Yuki suddenly shivered as if someone poured cold water on his back. He turned around immediately, his eyes wandering to figure out what happened. When he felt the intense glare from the opponent's ace though, the glasses boy realized instantly what just happened.

Realizing that, he suddenly asked his teammates to gather around him.

"What's wrong, Kobayashi?" Shou asked confusedly.

"Don't turn around, but have you noticed that Ojiro Senta's eyes are consistently on me in the last few minutes? Don't look around, you idiot!" Yuki hissed when Riku was about to turn his head to check whether what he said was true or not. "I have a feeling that I would be the main target after this,"

"Well, that is not a bad strategy." Uehara pondered. "I mean, no matter how good your performance today, in the end, you are still a pinch server, not a regular player. They would definitely assume that your all-around ability as a player is still lacking. No offense, Kobayashi-kun."

Yuki nodded, accepting the criticism without complaint. "So, how about we take advantage of it to bait him?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

This time, silence descended on the team as everyone turned their eyes on Yuki as if he had just grown a second head. Even without explanation, they knew what Yuki meant by baiting him. He wanted to make an illusion that the team's defense was exposed, and since Ojiro Senta would target him if Yuki could receive the ball perfectly, the chance to counterattack would be huge to miss.

Still, that begged another question. "Can you really do it?" Uehara asked skeptically.

This was a fair question. After all, Yuki was a rookie here, so a lot of people would doubt him. However, to his surprise, before he could say anything, Riku came to defend him. "Don't worry, Senpai! If I know anything about Yuki's skill, it should be that his resilience on the back row is far stronger than even his serve skill. You will not disappointed!"

Yuki blinked furiously, not knowing what to say. Still, everyone considered Riku's words more seriously since the blonde boy had already proven to be a capable setter and could command the team flawlessly in today's game, so his words definitely weighed more than Yuki's.

After thinking for a moment, Shou who was the captain finally took the decision. "Okay, let's try this for the next play. But don't forget, Kobayashi! You are still not a regular here, so once you make a mistake, the coach won't hesitate to put you on the bench. So, do you think you can accept the risk?"

"Don't worry, Senpai. If I failed, that means I am not ready for this responsibility." Yuki grinned, now showing more excitement than ever.

A few seconds later, the game continued again, with Tachibana still on the service line. The boy still served the ball ordinarily, which was easy for one of the Giant Bear's players to pick it up.

"Good receive!"

"Zuki! Send it to me!" Ojiro Senta who hadn't given up on his mission raised his hand, asking for the ball.

All the Thunder's players tensed for a moment, realizing that this was the moment. They had to expose their defense a little without making it too obvious, luring Ojiro Senta into the bait. Tondo – God bless him and his terrible acting skill – seemed to hesitate about what he should do, which coincidentally was the best action he could do for the new strategy.

Seeing that the blocker in front of him jumped late and there was no one covering Yuki, Ojiro Senta didn't hesitate to unleash his stronger spike. However, what he didn't expect though, for Yuki to step back a little to plant his feet on the ground before bending his knee to adjust his stance and let the ball fall onto his forearms.

BAM!

"Oh! We got this!"

"Nice receive, Yuki!"

Not only Ojiro Senta, but all the Giant Bear players were confused at what happened. They were led to believe that Yuki was the weakest link on the team, so how could he receive their ace's attack perfectly like that?

Unfortunately, they didn't have too much time to think about it, since Riku had already taken action. He took advantage of their moment of confusion to launch an attack, and Uehara as the team's ace didn't disappoint in returning the favor with a similar powerful spike as Ojiro Senta did before.

BAM!